Latest Announcements

Welcome to StarFox Galaxies. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you can view the forum but cannot post anywhere. If you join as a member, you gain full access to our community and are able to post to your heart's content. Please be advised that your account will be MANUALLY approved by an administrator, so you won't gain access instantaneously. Rest assured we're on the case though!

We welcome all new members and take them into our family's open arms. Have fun, and enjoy your stay.~SFG Staff

I walked through the downtown streets of Corneria City...I bundled up against the cold of late autumn. I hated the winter back on Earth, didn't care for it here on Corneria. The cold wet wind blew around me as I pulled my coat hood up around my head and face.

I limped my way to the train station, and rode it back to my neighborhood...after disembarking onto the station platform, I walked back to the mansion...I made it home as the early darkness of late fall/early winter. I opened the gates, shut and locked them, then unlocked the front door, let myself in, then shut and locked the front door. I turned on the lights, or tried to. No power. The utility bills were overdue again.

I flopped down on the couch, resting in darkness and in solitude. Misty had broken up with me, yet again. Fox had disbanded Team Star Fox...well, not really "disbanded", but suspended it and us. He, Falco, Krystal, Slippy, Katt, Fara, Fay, Miyu, and Tigress were all that remained at the base. Akasha and Kylie visited from time to time, using Akasha's loft in the city as a place to stay on Corneria, Akasha's house on Katina, and the Royal Palace on Cerinia.

Fay was practicing medicine at a small clinic in the city, Miyu was working at a dealership as a mechanic, as was Tigress...Slippy was working maintenance at some of the factories..Fox and Falco were racing, Krystal did psychic readings. Katt was working as a D.J. at the clubs, and Fara found work somewhere at a gym, teaching dance and aerobics.

I had no idea what Todd was doing, but Lola, Madame Vulpine, and Misty were still pursuing entertainment gigs, as Babs worked as a private detective, and Edge found work on Fichina, using Babs' snow chalet as a home there temporarily. Conrad was probably doing private contract wet work, utilizing his Corneria Intelligence Agency skills.

Silas was working at a gun dealership, Pal was working at a jewelery store. We were all doing our own thing, without the team uniting us. There just weren't any mercenary jobs. Misty and I were arguing more as the money ran out. The businesses who paid us protection money went out of business, and the bills were piling up. I had gone out to look for work, but found nothing. The jobs were becoming tough to find. The influx of earth refugees was causing a crisis.

Overcrowding, lack of available jobs to go around....and many other problems being caused by the refugee influx that had followed me after I came to Corneria all those years ago. What was to become of Team Star Fox? Or even Team Star Wolf? I had heard that they were disbanding too.

So it had come to this...no job, no girlfriend, and soon it would be no home. The mansion was expensive to operate, and would either be seized for non payment of property/parcel tax, or more likely just fall apart from lack of maintenance.

I looked over at the bar where I would sit for many of these past nights, my head on the bar top as I sat on a bar stool, as Misty stood near me, hands on her hips, angrily asking me what we were going to do about our situation. Misty is a pretty laid back girl, but when she got serious, you knew the situation was getting bad. It sure was for us. It got to a point where I woke up to her leaving, her things packed up in her stage trunk or in boxes to be picked up by the moving crew.

She kissed me, and said "I'm sorry you had to wake up to this. I wanted to be gone before then...I hate to leave you, but let's face it Julius. It's not like before. The team isn't stable, our revenue has dried up. Show's Over. Unless you can get things back on track for yourself, and for me, I see no reason for us to just sit around. I'm sorry Julius, and I'll always love you, but I've got to move on with my life, and so should you, even if we have to go in different directions." she explained.

"I'll miss you." is all I could say. "I'll miss you as well. Goodbye Julius. I'm sorry it came to this." she said. "Not as sorry as I am." I replied. Misty kissed me on the lips, and kicked her leg back, before getting into her ship and flying away. The moving crew came by and gathered her things, then left. I remembered that sad, gray, cold day...it was just like today, and not so long ago, yet it felt like an eternity ago.

I sighed and stared out the dark sky outside of the window as I kicked off my shoes. I wrapped myself in a blanket, as it got freezing cold in the large mansion, especially in the parlor. I wished I could afford to heat the place, or that I had something left to burn in the fireplace. I drifted off to sleep, wondering what Misty was doing now...

The upbeat, 1980's synthesizer music played, as the Corneria City sky scape was seen, and the yellow credits flashed "Team Star Fox". As the music played, a singer warbled out a sappy happy song about the Star Fox Team. Fox was seen emerging from an Arwing and smiling at the fourth wall, as "Starring Fox McCloud" proclaimed in big yellow letters.

Next came Falco, giving the camera the middle finger. "Falco Lombardi!". Slippy walked out of the hangar with a large wench in hand as he gave the thumbs up and smiled. "Slippy Toad!". Krystal was on the phone, and talking, only to pause and smile at the camera. "Krystal Buranetto!"

Fay and Fara were doing each others' nails, and smiled at the Camera. "Fara Phoenix! Fay Spaniel!". Miyu was playing a pinball machine, cheered, and then smiled at the camera. "Miyu Lynx!".

Todd was trying to sneak a drink, and Fox shook a can of coins, scaring him into stopping, then Todd smiled at the camera, but it was a sarcastic smile, his eyes shut tight and his mouth stretched painfully up. "Todd McCloud!"

Lola was wearing her sexy leotard, corset, fishnets, leg garter, and boots as she lay on her side seductively, and ate a chocolate covered cherry from a bowl of chocolate covered cherries. She ate the treat in a seductive way as well, as "Lola Foxglove!" appeared.

Tigress was working feverishly on something off screen, only for the scene to pan out s she finished her project, which was just a multi piece jigsaw puzzle, which she displayed with pride and smiled. "Tigress Arcnon!".

Akasha chewed up a magazine, then set it down, gave the fourth wall a sad look as "Akasha Sharavan!" flashed on the screen, before she ran off to hide. Kylie caught her in his arms, kissed her, and smiled at the camera as he set her down gently. "Kylie Buranetto!". He took Akasha by the hand as they walked away.

Madame Vulpine was wearing a leotard tuxedo as she waved a wand, and a puff of smoke appeared, and a large trunk appeared when the smoke cleared. Madame Vulpine opened the trunk, untied and unlocked the large sack inside of it, and let Misty out of the sack as she undid her handcuffs. Misty wore a sparkly leotard and fishnets, with character dance shoes. "Madame Vulpine! Misty Bluehour!"

Conrad repelled down onto the stage in his CIA gear, and removed his mask, smiling, as "Conrad Morgenthal!", before putting his mask back on and climbing back up the rope. The curtains closed, concealing Misty and Madame Vulpine on the stage.

Babs was seen with a magnifying glass, following a set of muddy footprints on a kitchen floor, only to bump her head into Edge's butt, as he was the one who tracked the mud into the kitchen. Edge and Babs startled each other, Babs shook her finger and looked at Edge with a playful scolding expression, as Edge shrugged and smiled stupidly. They both laughed as "Babs Conijn!" and "Edge O' Donnell!" flashed on screen.

Silas was taking a pizza out of the oven, then he turned and smiled at the fourth wall. "Silas Wormwood!". Pal was performing in drag, and when he curtseyed for the audience, a ball fell out of his dress cleavage, and he picked it up and stuffed it back in, before smiling at the fourth wall. "Pal Whetherwax!". An angry crowd bum rushed the stage as the curtains dropped down, concealing Pal on the stage.

It then showed me slipping on a banana peel, and falling down the stairs. I got up, laughing as my teammates laughed too, then I saw my shoulder was dislocated, my left arm swinging crazily. We all laughed at this, the Tigress popped my arm back in as I let out a silent scream, the music still playing the happy beat, as the singer belted out the peak point of the song...

I tested my arm and gave Tigress the thumbs up as "and Julius Quasar!" flashed. Tigress messed up my hair, then the camera showed Fox set up a camera to take out picture. As he set it on the tripod, and joined us in the group, the camera's back left tripod leg fell, right when the picture was taken, so the photo of us was leaning to the side, and the song, the music, and the intro concluded.

Cheerful woodwind music played as the outside of McCloud Ranch was seen. We were all in the living room together as Fox entered and said "Hey team, I've got some great new-" he was cut off by the end credits, which came whizzing upwards REALLY fast, listing all of the cast, crew, etc. The show ended, just like that.

I woke up in a cold sweat. It was all a bad dream! "Ahhh! T-too M-m-many C....!" I fell back asleep before I could finish my sentence.

The next morning I woke up, and hunted through the bare pantry and cupboards. I found one last bit of food to heat up. After eating, I made my way to the city. No jobs. No opportunities, except for..."Three inmates, who have recently escaped from the Lostendamned Harbor Institution for the Criminally Insane. Rhodie Schroedinbach, Sebastian McCain, and Sylvester Inglewood escaped sometime last night in a brazen series of plans!" said the red vixen news caster, the same one with the glasses.

I watched on the screen at the bar as the report explained what had happened. Sebastian, a Smoke Tuxedo Cat, had used his de-clawed paws to successfully steal the keys from an orderly. Sylvester, a VERY large and strong (but also stupid) Black and White Tuxedo Cat, fought the orderlies off after he and Rhodie were released from their cells (along with ALL of the inmates, to create a diversion, and Rhodie, a Calico Cat, helped to lead Sebastian and Sylvester out of the madhouse and she tossed an improvised chemical gas bomb behind them to inhibit the guards' and the orderlies' ability to pursue them any further. The trio made good their escape into the night.

A reward of $50,000 credit per escapee was offered for their capture. Hmm. Worth looking into.

I went over to McCloud Hall, after receiving a message left on my front gate by Todd to do so. I looked at the sloppily written piece of paper I had found that very morning....I rang the buzzer on the gate, and was let in. Todd and Lola greeted me, Lola hugging me extra hard.

"Good to see you Julius!" said Todd. "We've missed you, how have you been hon'?" said Lola. "Lousy." I replied. "We're sorry about Misty." Todd said. "Yeah. We haven't heard from her since you two broke up." Lola replied. "I thought that she dumped him." said Todd. "Shut up, Todd." said Lola, gently elbowing him.

"We wanted to treat you to a little surprise!" said Todd. He and Lola took me by each arm and led me to an upstairs bedroom suit, where I saw a large basket, with a huge egg sitting it it. The egg was over 7 feet tall, white with black tiger stripes painted on it. "That had better not be Pal in there." I said. "No, it's not." said Lola, as she tapped on the egg and then stepped back.

The egg shook, vibrated, and muffled cries for help and release were heard from within it. At one point I heard a loud roar. After whoever was in it struggled for a bit, the egg burst open, revealing Tigress inside of it. She was wearing a Playboy Bunny outfit (strapless leotard, high heeled shoes, fake bunny ears and tail, white wrist cuffs, fishnet stockings, and bow tie collar).

Tigress let out gasps of air as she hatched out of the giant egg. "I think we made the shell too thick." she said as she panted. She then composed herself, straightened up, and greeted me. "Hi, Julius." she said. I could tell she wasn't really enjoying this, but had to do it. "Tigress made a bet with us, and she lost, so she has to do this for you, and sleep with you. We figured it would cheer you up!" said Todd. Tigress rolled her eyes and said "Yeah, that's right." she stepped out of the remains of the egg shell, and took me in her arms as Todd and Lola left the room, closing the doors.

"Shall we do this?" asked Tigress, gesturing to the bed nearby. "Sure!" I I said. Tigress got into bed with me, and after a couple of hours of sex, I was lying there, bruised, and out of breath, wheezing as Tigress relaxed, snoozing on the bed, her large paw pinning me by my forehead.

After she shifted, I got up, and showered off in the nearby bathroom. I then got dressed, kissed Tigress on the forehead as she slept, and headed downstairs. Todd and Lola were watching TV. "You two have fun?" asked Lola, grinning. I could barely walk, had to take the elevator downstairs as it was. "Y-yeah...it was something else, I'll say." I said, before collapsing on a chair. Todd and Lola laughed.

"What was the bet that you made to Tigress?" I asked. "We bet her that she couldn't throw Tricky's Ball over McCloud Hall. She tossed it super high from the back yard seaside part of the property, and it was supposed to land in the front yard, we didn't wanna risk losing it in the ocean. She tossed it, and it almost made it, but bounced off the very edge of the roof." Lola bragged.

"What would she have gotten if she won?" I asked. Todd would have had to dress up and hatch out of the egg, for Tigress to have sex with him." Lola said. Todd let out a sigh of relief. "You okay?" he asked me, noticing that I was in pain. "I'll be fine." I wheezed.

Tigress came downstairs later, showered and dressed in her regular outfit. "Well, that was interesting. I held my end of the bet. Julius, put some ice...everywhere, and you've been great company. "See you characters later." she said. "...'Bye Tigress!" we said. Tigress left.

I decided not to tip my hand about the three escapees. I couldn't risk Todd and Lola helping themselves to that bounty, and I needed all the money that I could get. Todd and Lola bounced Tricky's Ball back and forth, then I excused myself, thanking them for an interesting time.

I headed home, and got some of my weapons, and three stun cuffs. I then got a map of Lostendamned Harbor, and studied it..."The madhouse isn't far from the railyards, perfect place to hide." I said, folding up the map and heading out. Within a few hours, I was at Lostendamned Harbor, near the rail yards. I headed out to there, and sneaked through a service tunnel on the tracks.

The crunch of gravel under my feet echoed throughout the service tunnel. I approached a service platform, when I heard voices up ahead. Kid voices. I came to a platform, in a large chamber, where the tunnel tracks continues and veered around the bend, out of sight.

"Go away, Jenn!" came one voice, a soft humming voice. "Yeah! We were here first! We're gonna catch them, and collect on that reward!" said a high squeaky voice. "Oh shut up you two. The rewards' big enough for all three of us! And it's gonna take three of us to catch Sebastian, Sylvester, and Rhodie!" said a voice that sounded like guitar scales being played.

I accidentally sneezed, my sneeze echoing through the chamber. "Who's there!?" said the squeaky voice. I ducked behind an out of service locomotive train/subway car. I couldn't tell where the three voices were coming from. As I moved towards the front of the car, I passed the side door, as it slid open and a shotgun was pointed at my head. "Found him!" said the first voice.

"Damn!" I said. I turned around with my hands up. They were in the train car the whole time! The other side door opened and two sets of footsteps walked onto the platform in opposite directions, and the other two characters I heard talking came around either side of the train car. From around the front, a tortoiseshell cat with blue eyes and a notched ear approached me, her gun held at the high. From behind me, a reddish orange and white tabby cat with green eyes came at me with her sword held high.

A buff orange and white tabby cat held the shotgun as she kept it trained on me. "Heeeeey! I know this jackass! He got caught with stolen IPBM warheads! They arrested him on the news!" the tortoiseshell cat said, laughing. The buff orange and white tabby cat lowered her shotgun as the three female cats laughed.

"Shut up!" I said to the tortoiseshell cat. "Don't mind her, she's a bitch." the reddish orange cat reassured me. The tortoiseshell cat glared at her. "Enough!" the buff orange and white cat said. "What are you doing here!?" she then asked me. "Same thing you three are doing here. I wanna catch the crooks and claim the reward." I said. "Jeez, does EVERYONE know to look here!?" said the reddish orange and white cat.

"No, but we should work together to catch them." I suggested. "How do you split $150,000 four ways, asshat!?"" asked Jenn. "Besides, we were here first, and these are OUR rail yards. You two losers get out!" said the reddish orange and white cat.

"Shut UP!" the tortoiseshell cat said. "Yeah, you don't own these rail yards. They're city property!" I said. "That reminds me, we better look out for the guards." said the buff colored orange and white cat. "Right! Let's go, Dora." said the reddish orange cat. "Nice name." I said. "Yeah, I'm Sally Rowland, that's my sister Dora Rowland, and the notch eared idiot there is Jenn Lovejoy. Not a pleasure to meet any of you." said the reddish orange cat as she sheathed her sword.

"I've wasted enough time with all of you morons! I know these rail yards better than any of you, so I'M the one who's gonna find the escapees and collect on the reward money!" said Jenn. "WE know this place like the backs of our paws! The transit security guards kick us out of here all the time, but we just come right back in here! We know this place better than they do! We come here all the time!" said Sally.

"Let's just go together, down that tunnel, and after that we go our seperate ways, and whoever gets the three escapees, gets the reward!" I said. "Whoever FINDS them gets the reward!" said Dora. "Just because you found them doesn't mean you captured them. Whoever captures them should get the reward!" said Jenn. "Makes sense." I said. "Who asked you!?" asked Sally.

"No one, so what!?" I said.

We headed down that tunnel, and I kicked out the boards over the end of the tunnel. "Think you could make any more noise? I don't think security heard you!" said Sally. "Cram it!" I replied. We headed out through the mouth of the tunnel.

Sally and Dora headed off one way, Jenn another way, and I headed straight through the gates through the service yard.

I walked through the train yard, and pushed open a gate. As I walked through another part of the rail yard, I climbed into the open back door of an empty train. I walked through the empty cars, and went out the side door of the lead car.

"Hey! Who the hell are you!?" a voice shouted. I froze. "RUUUUN!" shouted Sally. I looked to my left and saw Sally and Dora fighting with the security guards near a service tunnel. I made my way to the main building, and picked the lock on the doors. I then made my way into the building, where I saw a guard at the communications computer console. I sneaked up behind him and zapped him with my stun gun, rendering him unconscious. I cuffed him to his own chair and then unplugged the computer console.

I then hit a button on the wall, and a metal door rolled upwards, allowing me access to the rest of the rail yards. I ran out, one for several anthro doberman and German shepherd security guards in brown shirts, black trousers with gold gig lines, black shiny oxfords, black eight point crown caps, and black night sticks. "FREEZE!" one of them shouted at me. I ran for it as they pursued me towards the mechanics' bay. It was too far for me to make it to the mechanics' bay. I hid in a nearby tool shed, and the guards searched around, before giving up and leaving.

I sneaked out and made my way though the yards, ducking guards, and relying on Sally and Dora or even Jenn running by, distracting the guards as they were pursued the guards. Things suddenly grew very quiet. I heard shouting in the mechanics' bay.

"Get out of here you bitch!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. I sneaked into there, and saw Jenn, fighting off three other cats. The fugitives! I saw Rhodie, Sebastian, and Sylvester!

"I'm taking you three in!" Jenn shouted. The nearby doors flew open, and Dora and Sally ran through them, tackling Sebastian to the ground. "Duuuh, HEY! Get offa them!" said Sylvester, as he lifted the two sisters by the scruffs of their necks. The two of them screamed and struggled, as I fired a laser round at him, making him cry out in pain and drop them.

Rhodie ran at me, headbutting me in the face. Jenn jumped on Rhodie and pounded her. The four of us fought the three inmates, and we finally subdued them, using my stun cuffs. "Got 'em!" I said. "Let's get them out of here. Nice job with the stun cuffs, Julius, we shoulda thought to bring some!" said Sally.

"I told you not to forget them you doofus!" Dora told her sister. Sally shoved me into Dora, and Dora pushed past me and chased after sister, jump kicking her in the rear. I watched them fight for a bit, before me and Jenn broke up the fighting. "We gotta go. That computer console you disabled has a link to the local police department, and when it went dead they though there was trouble and showed up!" Jenn warned me. "Wait, that was JULIUS!?" asked Dora.

"I saw him in the main building." Jenn smirked. "We'll get even with you four dicks for doing this!" said Sebastian, his grey and white face accented by a white line over one of his eyes. It resembled a scar, but it was just a fur pattern. "Shut up you!" I replied.

The Lostendamned P.D. showed up. "Here they are!" they shouted to the security guards. "We caught the fugitives!" I said. "So you did...." one of the police officers said...

***

"I'm sorry, kids, but the reward goes to Julius Quasar. It was his stun cuffs used on the suspects, therefore he gets the bounty." said the police chief. "But that's not fair!" said Sally;. I looked at the three disappointed girls, and sighed. "Chief, wait a minute! I want them to have the reward bounty! They found the suspects first, and made it to the rail yard first. They deserve it more than I do." I said. "Are you sure about this?" asked the chief. "Yes sir." I replied. "Okay then." the chief said, transferring the $150,000 credits reward to the girls' accounts, splitting it three ways.

"That was really nice of you." Rhodie said to me as she and her two cohorts were led past me, all three of them in straitjackets and walking towards the padding lined asylum van. "Yeah, that was really kind of ya'. You're not so bad, Julius." said Sebastian, in a grumpy tone. "Duuuh, yeah! You is a good man, Julius!" said Sylvester.

After the van left with them and the cops drove away, we left the rail yard (being escorted out by the guards). "Well, take care, girls." I said. "Wait! Stop!" said Sally. "Yeah, we wanna thank you!" said Sally. "That's right. Thanks for giving us the money, and the credit." said Jenn. "You're welcome." I said. "We all caught them together. You deserve some of that money too!" said Sally. Dora transferred $10,000 credits from each of their accounts to mine, making me $30,000 credits richer.

"Thank you, all of you!" I said. The girls and I hugged, and Dora said "It was our pleasure, Julius." Sally nodded and said "You're welcome, it was the least we could do after your help.". Jenn smiled and said "It seemed only fair, after you shared the money with us like that."

"I really appreciate it, since I need the money. You three take care, and thanks again. Goodbye." I said to them. "Bye bye!" said Sally and Dora as they left. "Goodbye." said Jenn, as she left as well. I made my way home, and smiled, remembering those three interesting young girls. Maybe I would meet up with them again. We worked quite well together.

I used the $30,000 credits to pay off my bills, but after I was done, it wasn't enough to turn the utilities back on. But the taxes, the debts, gone for now. But I was burning trash in the fireplace, stuff that was safe to burn like leaves from the yard, or fruit and vegetable peels, magazines, etc.

I had no food, either! I went out, looking for more work. I was hanging out at the bar, using the last of my pocket money to pay for one beer. As I finished it, Fara tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey Julius!" she said. "Hi..." I croaked. "How ya' been?" she asked, sitting next to me. I sighed and said "I've been better."

I told her about the rail yards, the three cats I captured, and the other three that I met. I told her about the shared bounty, the fact that I had no money left, just paid off my overdue bills and taxes, but had no utilities or food. Fara listened, and looked very concerned.

"...I have no idea where Misty is, since we broke up." I said sadly. "Awwww, I'm so sorry Julius! Things haven't been good for me and Silas since we broke up either!" Fara said, gently patting my arm. "Well...I was wondering if we could..." I said. "I'm not ready for a relationship right now, but I'm open to 'keeping you company' from time to time." she said. "Cool." I replied. "Wanna come over to my place tonight?" she asked. "Sure." I replied. "Great! I have to finish my shift at the gym, doing the 'fitness gig' still, but I'll see you in a couple of hours! You know where I live, right?" she asked. I nodded.

Later that night, I went to Fara's apartment...The door wasn't locked, so I let myself in, locking the door behind me. I turned around to see a giant white and pink spotted egg in the living room. I removed my clothes, and walked up to it, tapping on it. The egg shook, and bounced up and down, then it rocked very fast, back and forth, side to side, as the egg burst open, revealing a pink Yoshi inside of it. "Gum?" I said.

The pink Yoshi said nothing, just took me in her arms as we embraced. I pushed myself into a small opening, and we had sex. Pink Yoshi licked me, bopping me in the face with the tongue as it went in and out of the mouth. I pumped furiously as we then rolled around on the floor of the apartment....after an hour and a half of vigorous sex, the Pink Yoshi stood up, and winked at me. An unzipping noise was heard, and the Pink Yoshi split open, revealing Fara inside of it, she was naked, and she had been wearing the Pink Yoshi "Gum" costume. "Was that fun?" she asked me. "Totally." I replied.

"Why don't we do it again, without the costume?" she asked me. I smiled and nodded. Two hours later, we relaxed, this time we did it in Fara's bed. "You've gotten better...you're no Silas, but you're good." said Fara.

"How did you know what I was like in bed before?" I asked Fara. "Lola, Misty, Madame Vulpine, Babs, we share our sex stories from time to time." said Fara. "Ah. Well you're no Misty, but you're great." I said. Fara kissed me and said "Thank you."

Later on as we relaxed and watched TV, Fara said "Sorry I didn't invite you into the gym, but it's members and staff only." she said. "I'm used to it." I said. "No! I wanna do something nice like that for you." she said. "Tonight with the Pink Yoshi was great." I said. "It didn't seem like enough, especially after all you've been through. But I'll try to do something for you." Fara said. "Thanks!" I replied. "No problem. And that was really nice of you to share that reward with those three kids." Fara told me before kissing me...

I spent the night at her place, then the next morning Fara woke me up. "Daddy has a job for you! He needs help recovering some cargo that he's lost on Titania!". "Cool, thanks!" I told her. We showered off together, had some breakfast, then headed to Fara's father's workplace, Phoenix Shipping Industries, Ltd.

"Julius, Fara, good to see you two!" Mr. Phoenix said as he stood up from his chair to greet us. He hugged Fara, and shook my hand. We all sat down, and Mr. Phoenix said to me, "Okay, here's what happened. I delivered some valuable cargo to Titania, but it turns out that it was stolen off of the ship, by a band of renegades who reside in a large and ancient walled city on Titania. They're all jackals, literally, and they rule that place with an iron paw. Their leader is a Khan, who has my merchandise...".

"What kind of merchandise?" I asked.

"Interplanetary Ballistic Missile Warheads, much like the ones you got caught trying to smuggle and steal for the Foxgloves. This time you won't get into legal trouble, but we should still keep this discreet just the same, bad for business otherwise." Mr. Phoenix said. I made a lip zipping motion, and Mr. Phoenix smiled at me.

"Good. Now the key to the warheads is being held by the Khan's right hand man, a Colonel who was a part of the CDF years ago. His Lieutenants know where the missiles are hidden, one has the map, the other one is watching over the missiles themselves." Mr. Phoenix told me in a serious tone.

"You still want to do this? You don't have to. It's dangerous, but it pays VERY well. I want those missiles and the activation key back at any cost!" he added.

"I'll do it." I said. "Be careful Julius!" said Fara, gently gripping my hand. "I'll be fine, thanks!" I said. "She's right though, be careful. These guys are worse than Star Wolf and his Ruffians!" Mr. Phoenix said. "No prob'!" I said. "Wonderful. I'll fill you in on the details, and make sure you can get your ship ready..." Mr. Phoenix replied. We worked on the details, then Fara took my to my house, where I stocked up on weapons and supplies, then I got into my Arwing, and Fara went home. "Goodbye Julius, and good luck. Be safe." she said, as we hugged and kissed before she left. "Thanks, I'll be fine." I said to her.

I landed in the hinterlands, on a ridge overlooking the village where the Khan ruled with an iron paw. He was a jackal, and a big one at that. I made my way down the ridge, to the village. I saw the bazaar just beyond the village gates, and the armed jackals, patrolling with their hyper laser rifles held high. They wore sand colored military styled uniforms with sand colored turbans, their ears poking through the turbans.

I saw the Colonel, the right hand enforcer of the Khan, heading into the bazaar with a bodyguard. The bazaar was a large, indoor marketplace with propped open glass window skylights, and lots of niches for the merchants. But the front was guarded by armed soldiers.

I headed to my left, and saw the house of the lieutenant, and two armed guards standing outside. Two more guards patrolled around the back of the house. I stayed away, and waited for them to finish their patrol before sneaking to the back, and picking the lock on the back door. I crept up the stairs, and sneaked up on the lieutenant, as he stood on the upper floor with his back to me. He wore an emerald green colored version of the military outfits that the other militants wore, and he had a purple turban with his ears poking through it.

I strangled him with a fiber wire garotte, and then went through his pockets. I took his laser pistol, and the map leading to the location of the warheads. Perfect! I remembered that I had to kill the Colonel, and obtain the key that he was holding. The key activated the warheads, and I couldn't risk an alarm being sounded of an intruder in the village, or the Colonel would panic and flee to the Khan's Palace, and then he would be inaccessible behind the locked gates and impregnable walls surrounding the palace.

Downstairs, the patrolling guards came in through the back door. "Hey, was this supposed to be unlocked!?" said one of the guards. I froze. "Maybe we forgot to lock it?" asked another guard. "Hey, let's check on the lieutenant." said the other guard. "No, we don't want to wake him, he takes a nap every afternoon." said the other guard.

"Okay then. Hey, where's the Khan?" the first guard says. "He's got a major business deal going down, with those stolen warheads. This buyer is coming with a convoy contingency, and the Khan will be with them. They'll go to the palace, and negotiate the terms before moving on to where the warheads are being stored. Should be really lucrative." said the other guard. "We could use the money, I'll tell you what. But who is the buyer?" asked the first guard. "The Khan wouldn't say. But they are very interested in purchasing the IPBM warheads, and they have the money to do so." said the other guard.

After they finished their conversation, they left and moved on their patrol routes. I waited for them to be gone, then I sneaked out of the house...I headed towards the marketplace, but made a left around the market place, and headed through the village past a whole bunch of armed guards who stared suspiciously at me. I passed a well on my left, and several outdoor bazaar merchant stalls on either side of me.

I went to the back entrance of the indoor marketplace, and sneaked into the back of a pottery booth, which was occupied only by pots and crates with more pots in them. I hid behind the crates. The Colonel went from stall to stall, haggling with merchants. He wore a tan shirt, brown beret with holes cut in it for his ears to poke through, brown trousers, and a brown tie. He wore black oxfords as well. All of the other militants here wore black boots, even the lieutenant.

I waited in the stall as the Colonel walked in there and turned his back to my hiding place. His bodyguard stayed outside of the stall. The Colonel lit up a cigarette, and I sneaked up on him and strangled him with my garotte fiber wire weapon. He choked to death, and I dragged him behind the crates, and took his laser pistol and the Activation Key for the warheads. I then sneaked out of the stall past his bodyguard, and let myself out of the bazaar, through the back entrance, and then I sneaked out the gates to the East end of the village...

I headed through the East side of the village, towards my destination. After winding my way though the alleyways, and passing the temple, I found my contact. "Hey, Silas!" I said. "Hello, Julius." Silas replied. He was dressed like the locals; in dark boots, sand colored paramilitary uniform, and a sand colored turban. "I have your supplies, a Demon Rifle and ammo for it. This will pierce the armored limousine belonging to the Khan, who will return to the village very soon. Try to stop his convoy before the gate in the east. You are to HARM NO ONE but the Khan himself, you should be able to recognize him from the posters you've seen all over the city. Don't get caught with that rifle, and don't leave it behind, I'll need it back ASAP. Okay?" he said.

"Got it." I replied. "Normally I wouldn't have done this, seeing as how Fara and I broke up, but Fara's dad insisted, and even though Fara and I broke up he did put down a big deposit for my services and a big deposit for that rifle. If you lose it, he will dock it from your pay, as I take it from the deposit." he said.

"Sorry about you and Fara." I said.

"Forget it. Good luck." said Silas.

"Thanks. Better get out of the way, this could get messy!" I replied, taking the rifle and the ammo. I ran through the village back alleys, avoiding patrolling armed guards, and making a large detour around the edge of the city, sticking to the outer walls, and making a route past the city gates and right towards the temple. I passed a small hole in the wall on my left as I headed for the temple. I sneaked around the corner of the temple, climbed the stairs to the roof of that temple, and hid out of sight before the dome. I scanned the eastern horizon, and saw a convoy heading through the Titanian desert. A military style jeep, an armored limousine, another military style jeep, and an APC were proceeding towards the gate , heading from my right to my left, and turning to their left, towards the gates.

I fired a shot from the rifle, after aiming carefully. I fell back, and couldn't see out of one eye! The rifle recoiled so hard, it gave me a black eye! I tried to re-aim, and I noticed that my first shot had made its mark, I had disabled the engine of the lead vehicle. Several thugs, both the jackals working for the Khan, and the buyers of the missiles, a bunch of red and silver foxes, piled out of the vehicles and started shooting in multiple directions. I saw the Khan still sitting in the back of the limo, next to....Danny Foxglove! It was the Foxgloves, trying to get IPBM warheads again!

I removed and repositioned the scope for my left eye, shifted the rifle so it lay on my left shoulder, with my left hand on the trigger, took aim as best I could with my other eyes, and fired. I missed! I fired again, and this time I hit the Khan right in the head. "He's on top of the temple! Stop him!" I heard several voices shouting. Uh oh! I carried the rifle, ran down the stairs and headed around the corner of the temple, and ran past several armed militants, who shouted at me and aimed their rifles, but before they could shoot me, I climbed through the small hole in the wall, taking Silas' rifle with me. I did it! The missiles would soon be mine!

***

After following the map with my Arwing, I found the site, an abandoned old palace ruin, with underground passageways, and a beat up old tin building with a hidden elevator below, where the missiles were more likely to be. There was a landing pad near that building...I landed a safe distance away, and I took the rifle with me. I shot the patrolling guards, and the positioned guards who flanked the underground entrances to the underground compound. I headed for the entrance closest to the tin building and landing pad, and then left the rifle by the door, as I stole the dead guard's clothes, and headed down the stairs. I took out my silenced laser pistol, and saw the militants torturing and beating someone who was lying on the floor. I shot the militands, and the patrolling guard nearby. I helped the torture victim up. "Julius!?" asked Silas. He was the torture victim. "Silas! You okay!?" I asked. "No. They picked me up after the Khan was killed, and took me here for questioning, but I told them nothing. You need to kill the Khan's other lieutenant who supervises this place, he lives in a private chamber, over that way, though the door to your left, in the small closet off of that room. The warheads are in a crate on wheels in that elevator over there." Silas said, pointing. "Thanks. I killed the guards at ground level. Here's the remaining ammo cells for your rifle, which is next to the door up there." I said.

"Thanks. Good luck. I'm out of here." said Silas, taking the ammo and leaving. I moved the bodies of the guards, hiding them. I picked up a hyper laser version of an M60 machine gun one of the guards had dropped, and then I went to the lieutenants chamber. I sneaked in, quietly opening the door. I set down the rifle, sneaked over to the closet, and quietly opened the door. The lieutenant was kneeling with his back to me, and I strangled him from behind with my garotte wire. I had killed him, then I stole his laser pistol, and them went back for my rifle, sneaked out of his room, and made my way to the elevator, walking past tall of the guards, keeping my head down. I got into the elevator, and it opened smoothly and quietly.

I got it, closed the doors, and set the switch to the surface destination. The elevator ascended, setting off several alarms. The militants swarmed the elevator area, shooting at e. I took cover, and fried back at them, killing a few of them. Upon reaching the inside of the tin building, I rolled the crate out of the elevator, and I jammed the controls, so they couldn't bring the elevator back down. I opened the doors of the tin building, and put a wooden chock on the rails where the crate and its wheeled cart rested. I ran out of there, set some signal flares, ran back to the entrance I had used earlier and changed my clothes. I then jammed the doors of the underground entrances of the compound so that the militants below couldn't get out and make trouble for me. When I was finished, I took cover and waited, as I send out the coded message to Silas, telling him "Mission Accomplished".

Not long afterwards, a cargo spaceship, with the words "Phoenix Shipping, Ltd." landed, but then I saw some anthro foxes, cats, rabbits, and parrots in orange, purple, and red robes coming out of that ship. The got the crate, and wheeled it up the ramp, and into the ship before taking off. They were armed with hyper lasers, and moving quickly to secure the cargo and then take off. Something didn't seem right here. I left the area, and flew away in my ship. I would have to ask Silas or Mr. Phoenix what the deal was with those robed weirdos in his ship later.

I met with Silas at the Cantina on Titania. Cindy Sandstorm pointed me towards him, and he had the money for my past three missions ready for me. As I collected the money, he showed me a transmission.

"Hello Julius. Mr. Phoenix here. I wish I were contacting you and Silas on more positive terms, but unfortunately, I'll need your services now more than ever. This you'll really have to prove your money's worth, though you always have in the past, but this will be your hardest test yet." Mr. Phoenix said, his expression grim.

The communique cut to footage of a military outpost on Katina, where the same robed guys I saw flying the ship back at the hiding place for the warheads were seen on the screen, sneaking up to the Phoenix Shipping vessel. The sneaked up to the doors, and ambushed the Phoenix Shipping crew members, knocking them out and tying them up.

One crew member held up a laser rifle and aimed it at the robed weirdos, and made them put their hands up. As they surrendered, a human sneaked up behind him, and knocked out the armed crew member. A human...working with these guys...

"What you are seeing here is the 'Cola Cult', on Planet Fortuna, they have a peninsula compound with several surrounding islands. Cuckoo Cola was a popular soft drink at one time, but the company went bankrupt and closed, its drinkers were devastated...but the truly fanatical drinkers formed a cult at the old bottling plant, and named their compound 'Peninsucola', or 'Pensi-Cola' for short. The name is an amalgamation of 'Peninsula Cola'. These cultists love Cuckoo Cola, which they still make and sell on the grey market all over the Lylat system, but they also dabble in criminal activities, organized crime, and violent cult like fanaticism."

"They want the warheads, and they double crossed me by stealing my shipping vessel, and picking up the warheads that you liberated. My crew are okay, but they are very angry about this whole unpleasantness, as am I. Please help me get back the vessel and those warheads, Julius. I have sent Todd into their compound to find out more about them, but he is in hiding now, he must have blown his cover. You need to infiltrate the cult, then gain passage to their compound, through the village on mainland end of the peninsula, then take out the cult leaders. Be careful Julius. Rumor has it that a very powerful and dangerous foe is lurking in the shadows somewhere close to the cult leaders, wherever they are. Good luck." Mr. Phoenix said, as his face reappeared on the screen.

He then said "Here is some information I have on the cult..."

The screen cut to several anthro furries in white robes, inside of a Cola bottling plant. A red vixen placed a flash drive into the computer screen console, and then a commercial flashed on...

The cult members danced and sang with the commercial, as they were splashed in showers or red, orange, and purple soda, which stained their robes. They cheered, and looked like they were having fun. The commercial showed happy anthros enjoying the Cuckoo Cola. I swore I saw Lola in that ad at one point.

"Don't let their joyful appearance fool you,. These fanatic cult members are VERY dangerous. You need to move among them without blowing your cover. Get to the village, and find your contact." said Mr. Phoenix after the footage of the cult ceremony ended, and Mr. Phoenix reappeared on the screen. The communique ended, and Silas said "There you have it. Good luck."

I nodded and said "Thanks. You got the rifle okay?". "Yes, thank you." Silas replied, as he smiled at my black eye. "First time with the rifle, eh?" he laughed. "Yeah. Ow..." I replied. "I shoulda warned you about that..." Silas said, taking a drink. I ordered a cocktail and some potato wedges from the bar, as well as some ice for my eye. after eating, drinking, and paying, I fueled up my ship and then paid for that, bade Silas farewell and thanks, he bade me the same and good luck, then it was off to Fortuna for me...

I landed near Pensicola, on Fortuna. I made my way to the little village at the mainland end of of the peninsula, and went to the address provided for me. "The Interplanetary Parcel Service" was the location to find my contact. I saw a rabbit standing next to a small spacecraft.

"Hello my friend and welcome! You should visit 'Carpets Unlimited', my uncle's store! There's a big discount sale going on today, only for you! Allow me to share with you the address!" he said. He told me where to find the carpet shop, and I thanked him, then left.

I made my way through the alleyways, making sure no one followed me. I saw orange, purple, and red robed cult members, armed with laser pistols as they patrolled the village, serving as the local police force. The civilian locals wore simple shorts or pants and shirts, all tattered looking. Lots of shops and small row houses were all over the place, forming a labyrinth like village.

I opened the door to the carpet shop...and was greeted by laser fire!

I ducked, then came in and shut the door behind me, locking it. I turned around after locking the door, to see a room full of rolled up rugs, some food and water piled up, a small bathroom, and a desk opposite the door where I came in, as well as a back door to the alleyway to towards the back of the shop, caddy corner to the entrance.

Sitting at the desk was...

"Todd!?" I said. "Who's there!? Hold it right there!!!" Todd shouted, drunk off his ass. A large liquor bottle sat on the desk before him, half finished.

"You wanna watch it with the weapon, you nearly killed me!" I said. "Sorry, Julsie...I'm glad to see ya' though. I'm in a mess of trouble right now." Todd said, filling the room with a liquor cloud from his breath. "What's going on here!?" I asked him.

"I was doing surveillance work for Mr. Phoenix, regarding where to find the cult leaders, the warheads, the stolen cargo ship, and then the place is swarming with these idiots trying to kill me!" Todd complained. He told me about a gang of assassins sent out to kill him, and me if they found me. They came from big families, all keen on arms dealing. Todd used to do business with these guys.

Todd wanted me to kill the assassins, particularly two of them, and photograph their corpses as proof of their deaths. "Good luck!" he said, giving me a digital camera. I left the room, and sneaked out to the marketplace plaza, one of two, to find the assassins...I saw someone in the upper levels above the store with a sniper rifle, overlooking the courtyard. I made my way thought the shadowy part of the marketplace, avoiding any wide open areas, and then I got under the sniper's post, and sneaked up the stairs behind one of the shops, and then up behind the sniper. I strangled him with my garotte, and then after killing him I took a picture of his corpse. He was an anthro hound dog, in orange robes, and a purple beach hat.

I then took his rifle, and aimed it at another hound dog who was walking around the marketplace, dressed in a similar outfit. I took aim with the sniper rifle and fired! I then ran out of that room, and sneaked through the shadows, making my way to where I had shot the other assassin. I sneaked up to him body, and snapped a photo. I ran off as several marketplace guards shouted at me and opened fire with their laser pistols. Uh oh! I was in for it now! As I ran through the alleys, ducking the cult police, I finally made my way back to the carpet shop.

"You're back! Great! And you got the photos!? Yep, sure as hell looks like them all right! Great job, Jules. We gotta get going. The entrance to the Health Spa is behind the other shop. This Health Spa is a front for recruiting new members, it's the main bottling plant of Cuckoo Cola, and now run by Dr. Kitsu. She's this red vixen, the cult leader's main propagandist, second in command, and his unlicensed physician.

"You gotta pick up the key to the closet where you're gonna stash her corpse after killing her, and you musn't harm any civilians at all. No killing, no injuring, and none of them are to witness the Dr.'s death. There is a master key in the storage room, and other stuff there to help you take out the doctor, but don't let anyone witness the dead Dr., or the alarm will sound and they'll evacuate the cult leader from his location on the hospital island, the nearest island off the coast of the Health Spa. He's going in for a pacemaker, for his heart, so you can get the drop on him then." Todd said. Todd then passed out at the desk, after taking a key from the desk drawer and pushing it across the desk to me.

I took the key, and I heard footsteps running up to the carpet store. A kit fox in an orange robe, sunglasses, and a purple turban kicked open the door, and took aim at Todd with a silenced hyper laser sub machine gun. I drew my laser pistol and fired several shots at the kit fox, and he fell to the ground, dead, dropping the silenced hyper laser sub machine gun.

I grabbed his weapon, and the extra power cells from his orange robes, and then closed the door to the shop behind me. I dragged the assassin kit fox's body into a nearby vacant shop, and then I headed down the alleyways, towards the other shop. As I reached it, to my left a sniper's rifle discharged, and I was nearly killed. I made my way through the alleyways to where the sniper's post, a small apartment loft overlooking the second shop, was set up. I got behind the sniper's location, climbed the ladder to the apartment loft, and kicked open the door, firing my newly acquired weapon at the sniper and his backup, killing both assassins. They were two Cuckoo Birds, in orange robes, and with either red or purple hats. One held a hyper laser sub machine gun (this one didn't have a silencer integrated into the barrel like mine did) and the other had a sniper rifle. I left the apartment loft, made my way to the carpet shop, taking care to avoid the cult police along the way, and unlocked the door to the carpet shop with the key Todd gave to me earlier, and then I went inside, locking the door safely behind me. I walked towards the back of the shop, and took down a carpet that was hanging on the wall, where I found a tunnel leading towards the Health Spa in the old Cuckoo Cola bottling plant.

I climbed out of the tunnel, and saw that I was near the back entrance to the bottling plant. There was a loading dock, and at the far end of the beach where I was standing on now there was a landing pad for a ship, and a sewer pipe outlet.

I waited for the patrolling guards to pass as I hid behind the upturned motorboat, and then I ran down the beach, past the boat slips where two motorboats were tied up, and I ran for the landing pad. I entered the sewer under it, and ran through the sewers, and eventually made my way to an underground ladder.

I climbed up it, and made my way into the factory. I was in a locker room, where I found a white robe to change into, and then I made my way into a storage room, and found a Master Key on a hook on the wall, and I found a vial of poison. I headed back through the locker room as a crowd of cult members came pouring in. "There you are, c'mon! The ceremony is going to start!" the anthro cult members said, dragging me towards the main room of the factory.

I saw several Cornerian citizens that I recognized, famous and ordinary civilian. I was amazed at who the cult member were. The red vixen news reporter, several co stars of Lola's, and members of the CDF. I looked up to see a red vixen in a leotard, sweatband, tights and legwarmers shout "Okay everyone! Are you ready!?". The others cheered. She stood in front of a hologram projected screen as the Cuckoo Cola commercial played.

"Come along! You belong! Feel the fizz, of Cuckoo Cola! It's the cola for makin' you proud! Take another sip and you're one of the crowd! Fell the fizz, of Cuckoo Cola!"

As the song went on, everyone was being splashed with buckets, hoses, and water balloons full of the different colors of Cuckoo Cola. Orange, Grape, and Cherry. There were shower stalls set up, even, with the cult members bathing in the Orange, Grape, or Cherry flavors of cola. "What flavor?" someone asked me. "What!?" I asked. "What flavor do you want!?" he asked me. "Grape, please!" I said. He nodded, and I was pushed under a shower head, where grape Cuckoo Cola rained down on me, turning my robes, skin, and hair purple.

As we sang, danced, and partied, the celebration wore down, and as everyone left the room, I was stopped by two cult enforcer guards, who said "She'll see you upstairs, NOW!". I was dragged by an anthro bear and an anthro cougar in red robes up to the factory office suite at the top floor, and I saw the vixen who led the celebration earlier.

The thugs left the room, and the red vixen, Dr. Kitsu, was wiping her pretty face off with a towel before hanging it up. As she did this, I poisoned the glass of mineral water on her desk. She walked up to me and gave me a kiss. "Hello, Duke Schaeffer! I'm so glad to see you! It's an honor to have you as a member of the Cola Cult." said Dr. Kitsu.

"It's an honor to join you guys!" I said. She giggled, and said "We appreciate your generosity, and your devotion! We want to move you as far up into the cult as possible! In fact, we want benefactors like YOU to join our inner circle! Not everyone enjoys this privilege, you know!" she said.

She gestured to a large painting on the wall, showing a grumpy looking anthro cuckoo bird in a business suit, holding a feather quill pen. "Our sacred cola was created by the late 'J.P. Cuckoo', and his Cola is the best in the Lylat System! He didn't use 'high fructose corn syrup' and other toxic crap like they do on your planet, Duke! NO! He made soda the way you humans used to! He believed in quality! He loved cola as much as we do, and he respected it enough not to taint it in the name of 'profit'! Sadly, the cola company went under, and a year after that J.P. Cuckoo lost his life when he was hit by a train. BUT...his legacy lives on, through 'THE COLA CULT'! And because of donors like you!" Dr. Kitsu kissed me. "I'm so sorry our Master of Ceremonies and leader of the cult, Ignatius Chroma, the former business partner of J.P. Cuckoo, couldn't be here to see you today. He is undergoing surgery out there on Hospital Island. But he sends you his best wishes!" Dr. Kitsu said.

"Thanks you." I said.

"Of course! You know, you don't look like your description. I heard that you were 6 foot 5 inches, blonde hair, blue eyes...but you resemble this human I've heard of on Corneria, by the name of 'Julius Quasar', isn't that silly? As if we'd ever let that miscreant into our cult." Dr. Kitsu laughed, and took a drink of her mineral water. Suddenly, she gagged, dropped the glass, and convulsed. White foam drooled from her mouth as she fell to the floor. She crawled to her desk and reached for the panic button there, but couldn't reach it.

"You...sonafa...bitch!" she said to me, realizing what I had done. She dropped dead, gurgling. I smiled and picked her up, ready to head to the closet and hide her remains in there. I heard footsteps coming. Oh no! I headed into the exercise room next door, and hid in a towel closet.

I heard voices in the Doctor's office. "I'M Duke Schaeffer, you fools! I was late getting here because of a riot going on in your village!" a voice said. Uh oh! "Well then who was that we brought up to see the doctor!?" asked one of the cult guards who had brought me up earlier to the office. "There's nobody here!" said the other guard. The guards and Duke searches all of the upstairs rooms, and found nothing. They tried to enter the closet where I was hiding with the dead doctor, but I had used my master key to lock the door.

"You just wait in the private meditation room up here, we'll look around some more, Duke." said one of the guard. "Okay, fine, but let me know when you find her!" said Duke. The footsteps and the voices faded and all was quiet. I took the Doctor's corpse with me out of the towel closet, and headed through the upstairs office suites and to the designated hiding place Todd had described. It was a corner positioned closet, and I unlocked the door, placed the corpse in there, and closed the door. After locking the door, I pocketed the key, and left the place, heading down the stairs. I sneaked out to the beach, and got into one of the motorboats, and headed for the hospital island.

I arrived at the Hospital Island, still wearing the cult member robes....I parked near the boat pier, and sneaked onto the ground of the hospital. I entered through an open window, and made my way to the upper floor. I waited for the nurse to leave her workstation for a break, and helped myself to the keys from the desk drawer.

I unlocked the office door behind her workstation, and went into the doctor's private office. I found a package that had been left for me by Todd, seeing as it had the Star Fox logo on it. I opened the black carbon fiber box, and found a key, and a pair of night vision goggles. "Check weapons before entering hospital wards" a note in Todd's handwriting advised. I nodded, and used the key from the box on the other office door behind me.

As I unlocked that door, I entered another small office to find a Doctor's uniform there for me. I changed into it, and left my weapons in the room, keeping only my goggles. I then headed out of the offices, and to the elevator, avoiding the nurses and the guards as I headed to the elevator.

The elevator came up when I called for it, and I rode it to the basement, where the operation wards were, and the outpatient wards were. I headed down there, stopped at a security checkpoint where the hospital security guards searched me for weapons but found nothing.

After the security checkpoint, I entered the outpatient ward, and used the ring of keys from the nurse's desk to unlock the generator room, where I cut the power. I locked the room after exiting it, put on my night vision goggles, then sneaked into the Consultant's room, using the ring of keys to unlock that office, where I took a scalpel from the desk and then sneaked though the basement, entered the surgical ward, and looked for the cult leader. I checked three different rooms before I found him with his bodyguards standing there, looking around in the dark. The rest of the hospital staff was panicking over the power failure, or what they assumed was one.

The cult leader was an old parrot, he lay there asleep on the hospital gurney....I used the scalpel and cut into him, botching his pacemaker surgery. After I finished the deed, I placed the scalpel on the nearby table, and then I sneaked out of there. I unlocked the stairwell door, and sneaked back upstairs in the dark. I went to the doctor's office, and changed back into my clothes, gathered up my weapons, and put the night vision goggles back in their box, before taking it with me. I left the office key from the box, and the stolen ring of keys on the desk, and I sneaked out of the hospital as the lights came back on.

An alarm sounded, and the security gates slammed shut. They found the dead cult member! I fled, and barely escaped being locked in the grounds as the heavy armored gates slammed shut behind me as I ran to the pier. Whew! A gunshot rang out, and I took cover. A human was shooting at me, the same human who I saw on the hijacking video aiming at me!

The human fired until he ran out of ammo, and ran from me, but I drew my weapon and fired on him, killing him. I stood over him and noticed something strange about him. He wasn't a human! He was wearing a mask! I pulled off his human mask, and saw an anthro coyote lying dead there.

After I shook me head, I went for my boat, when Todd puled up in the cargo ship. "I got the ship, and the warheads, Julius! I'm gonna fly this home, you can escort me in your Arwing!" he called out. I nodded and climbed aboard. Todd gave me a ride back to my Arwing, and we flew back to Corneria together, and there was Mr. Phoenix, with Fara at the headquarters for Phoenix Shipping Industries...

They congratulated us, and Silas joined in on the celebration, having emerged from resting in the break room. We were paid our money, quite a sizable amount for all of us, and then we headed our separate ways. I got my utilities turned on,,and got some groceries. Things were looking up!

I took several job opportunities that I could around the Lylat System, lots of small stuff. It seemed that once I got hired for a few jobs, the opportunities started flowing out like water from a pipe. I also entered flying races, flying through the holographic coronas marking the race course in the skies and in space. Lola's family was forbidden from hiring me again, as per Don Foxglove's order's. That was a shame, considering Lola's family paid really well, despite the dangerous nature of the work.

I was called for another mission; to infiltrate the penthouse of a notorious arms dealer and smuggler, Cyrus Versrey. This guy was selling old weapons seized from Andross' old military bases and secret bunkers, then selling them to criminals. I was hired by General Hare (Peppy) to go to Vesrey's place on Corneria, and take him down.

I headed to the large building where he lived, over in the city of Pelt. I made my way to the penthouse area of the building, where a large courtyard on the roof of the building was surrounded by the penthouse suite. There was the first level of the penthouse, surrounding the courtyard (which I had to enter via a wide staircase with a side wheelchair ramp) and consisting of staff quarters, a storage room below part of the penthouse (occupying one eighth of the top floor of the building), a vault (occupying one eighth of the second from the top floor of the building), and there was the second floor of the penthouse, consisting of a gym and rec room area, the third floor housed the security monitoring stations, there was a residential floor over that on the fourth floor, the fifth floor was the lower half of the master room of the penthouse, and the sixth floor was the upper half of the master room of the penthouse, where Mr. Vesrey lived.

I made my way into the main building, which was 10 stories high and consisted of offices, stores, restaurants, cafe`s, bars, and other businesses, as well as some condo suites. I disguised myself as the building's security team. Mr. Vesrey himself had his own security team in the penthouse, and sneaking past them wouldn't be easy. I climbed up the stairs, and made my way to the courtyard. The guards were milling about, and I saw a large spaceship parked there, as well as a pool and a hot tub.

I sneaked into one of the rooms on the first floor and changed into a security uniform, consisting of a jumpsuit, boots, and a red beret (the building security consisted of a Sheriff Barney style uniform). I then stole an electronic keycard, and walked over to the stairway that led to the storage room access stairs. I swiped the keycard through the terminal, and the laser barrier deactivated. I walked through the doorway, and headed down to the storage room, where I then walked through it to the other stairway, and walked into the vault, swiping the keycard and opening the steel reinforced door. I stole an IPBM Missile Guidance System, then I left the room with it tucked in my jumpsuit.

I went back up through the storage room , then through the first floor, then up the stairs to the second floor, where I crossed the gym and the rec rooms to another stairway, past a watching guard. I walked though the security area on the third level. As I wen tot he fourth level, something drew me to one of the bedrooms of the fourth level. I found a nice bedroom, that was well decorated, with tapestries, poufs, fancy ornate old furniture like a four poster bed, armoire, and a fainting couch. But I found what looked like a stained glass casket, locked shut and laying back on the floor. I walked over and unsnapped all of the latches.

I found a large leather sack with leather straps and metal buckles holding it closed. I removed the straps, and took off the leather sack, to find a spandex zippered cocoon inside. I unzipped the cocoon, and found a wrapped up gauze mummified female inside of that. I unwrapped the gauze wrappings, to find Misty inside! She was wearing a sequined thong leotard.

She woke up, and yawned as I held her in my arms. "Misty? What are you doing here!?" I asked her. "Julius!?" she said, looking shocked. "Were you kidnapped? Sold into sex slavery?" I asked her. Misty shook her head, and got to her feet. "I...moved in with Cyrus after he saw one of the shows I was performing in with Lola and Madame Vulpine. The tour ended, and I began dating Cyrus, moved in with him, and...you found me...all encased like this in multiple layers as part of a kinky game he likes to play with me." She said, looking shyly away from me.

"We did stuff like that." I said sadly. "I know." Misty replied. "Why are YOU here." she looked at me suspiciously. I quickly and quietly explained to her. "Sorry to cost you a meal ticket." I added. "Don't be. He's just another rich jerk, and I'm bored with him." Misty said.

"I've got to kill Cyrus now. Good luck to you." I said. "How do you plan to even get to him?" asked Misty. I showed her my keycard. "I'll use this to access the master room of the penthouse." I said. Misty shook her head. "That card is useless beyond the fourth level. You need a special keycard. You take me with you after killing Cyrus, and I'll give you the keycard...assuming you also have something to leave with me that will force you to come back for me." Misty said, tapping the bulge in my jumpsuit where the missile guidance system was hidden. I nodded, and handed her the device, and said "Pack your things, and this device with it, and then wait by the stairs for me." I said.

"I'll let you in through a fourth floor window. After you kill Cyrus, climb out the window, and shimmy down to the fourth floor ledge-don't fall-and I'll let you in through the window two levels below his window. Good luck!" she said, handing me the special keycard. "Thanks." I said.

I took the keycard, and went back to the stairs, where I climbed to the fifth level and swiped the special keycard through the terminal, and unlocked the steel doors, then entered the lower level of the penthouse. The guards there looked at me, shocked. "What are you doing here!?" they asked me.

I walked past them, and climbed the stairs to the sixth level, where Cyrus, a snow fox, was staring out the window. He heard me and turned around, one green eye and one blue eye staring at me intently. "What are you doing here!? You're not part of the security staff!" he said. I said nothing, and fired several shots from my laser pistol, which I drew at lightning fast speed. He had his pistol in his hand, having drawn it a split second after I drew mine and fired. He fell to the floor, dead. At the same time I had drawn and fired my gun, I tossed a smoke grenade over my shoulder, releasing a dark, noxious cloud. I heard coughing and gagging behind me, as the guards from the fifth floor choked on the smoke. They had followed me up the stairs, and were about to shoot me in the back before I could kill Cyrus, but they failed. It all happened so fast....

I holstered my gun, and climbed out the window, as per Misty's instructions. I climbed down to the fourth level, and climbed into the window as Misty helped me climb in. "Thanks babe, I got him! Let's get outta here!" I said. "Yeah!" Misty replied. She was back in her regular outfit again.

We ran down the stairs, Misty with her suitcase in hand. We ran past the security as they ran up the stairs. As we exited the penthouse, and entered the courtyard, the building security came up the stairs, guns held high, as the alarms sounded. They fired at me. "Come on!" Misty shouted, pulling me towards the space craft. I helped Misty into it, loaded her suitcase into it, then climbed in and slammed the door behind me, locking it.

We landed back at CDF Headquarters, and Misty gave me the Missile Guidance System, to give to Peppy as per his request. He was glad to have it back. "Great job, Julius! Mr. Phoenix said I could count on you!" he wheezed. "Thank you! I couldn't have done it without Misty's help." I said. I collected the reward, and offered to split it with Misty.

"It's okay, Julius. You need it more than I do." she said. I told her that I was doing better, and that it was only fair that she take some of the money, or half of it. She politely took one third of it, and she, Peppy, and I got caught up on what we were all doing.

After the chit chat, Peppy said "Well, I have to get this device to the vault, and keep it safe. Julius, Misty, great to see you both again. I hope one day the team can come back.". "Same to you, and I agree about the team." I said. "Ditto." said Misty. We bade him goodbye, and then we left. Misty flew back to my mansion, and then as we parked in the driveway, she said "I'll keep this spaceship for a while, then sell it." she told me as we stood together in the driveway. I hugged and kissed her, but she pushed me gently away. "What!?" I asked in shock. "Sorry Julius, but we're not back together." she said.

"Why not!?" I asked.

"It's just over. It was fun, what we did together back there, but I'm sorry to say, we aren't back together. We might get back together one day, or maybe we'll each find someone else and be happy. But for now, we can't go back. But I hope the future is kind to you." Misty said. She hugged me, got back into the ship, and flew away.

"Well that sucks!" I said, walking back into my home.

***

After a very long bender on Zoness, drinking my money away and getting trashed on a long vacation, I passed out at the bar of one of the casino lounges. Someone sat on the stool to my right. "You look like you've seen better days, Julius!" said a familiar deep voice. I looked up, and turned to my right. "P-panther!?" I said. "None other!" said Panther Carosoe. He wore a red formal shirt, black suit pants, black blazer, and black loafers.

Leon sat down on my left, clutching a large margarita glass with a long straw protruding from it. He put his right hand on my shoulder, and sipped from the glass in his right hand. After hiccuping, he said "Hey-a Julsie!" as he spun drunkenly on the stool. He wore jean shorts and a brightly colored floral shirt.

Wolf walked in, wearing blue slacks, a white short sleeve button up shirt, and sandals. "There you are! We've been looking for you, Julius!" he said to me. "What do you three want?" I asked. "It's about what YOU want, Julius! How would you like a steady cash flow, and plenty of opportunities for fun, adventure, and the chance to make some new contacts!?" asked Wolf.

"I'm listening." I said. "We've seen you in action. We think you have potential, and we are restarting Star Wolf....but we could use a new pilot and mercenary! Interested?" Wolf said to me.

I thought about it...about joining Star Wolf, about how Team Star Fox was over, how I felt that they often treated me more like a servant than a team member, about how I was always getting hung out to dry (aka fired), the way that they had acted towards me in the last days, Misty not wanting to get back together with me...I could only take so much, especially since I thought that I might not get any more opportunities to make any money for a long time. I had to think about the future.

"I'll do it!" I said. The guys cheered. "Welcome to Star Wolf, Julius!" said Wolf. "Great to have you!" said Panther. "Nice to have some new blood, worthy of Star Wolf!" said Leon.

The next few weeks went by in a blur. I learned how to fly a Wolfen, got assigned Pigma's old Wolfen, and I even got a tattoo of Star Wolf's logo on my arm. We all worked together, doing secret and dangerous new missions all over the Lylat System and in other places, like Papetoon, and Kew.

Without Team Star Fox, I felt that my only other alternative to return to my old life was with Team Star Wolf. What a fool I was.

"....an explosion occurred at the armory section of the CDF Military Outpost in the City of Lostendamned Harbor! The suspects got away with multiple crated of weapons, explosives, and ammunition. The security footage was unable to record the identities of the suspects, but witnesses believe this to be the work of the infamous space pirates known as STAR WOLF. They are rumored to have taken on a fourth pilot, from planet Earth though this has yet to be confirmed...stay tuned for further details!" said the red news reporter vixen.

Wolf, Leon, Panther, and I cheered as we raised our mugs of beer in triumph. We were in the Dented Keg pub, a watering hole for criminals and scum alike. The whole place reeked of piss and stale alcohol. The beat up old tv monitor, outdated by Lylatian Standards, but still ahead of the curve by Earth standards showed the reporter, the damage done at the scene of the crime, and messed up security footage (that was courtesy of Leon and his laptop he used to hack into the surveillance server).

"We got a cargo ship to raid next. Some good stuff coming from Cerinia!" said Wolf. "They got everything from weapons, to technology, and valuable goods like precious stones and metals." said Leon. "Not to mention some of the finest fashion designs Cerinia has to offer in the line of exports!" purred Panther.

An hour or so later, we waited for the Cerinian cargo ship to pass our hiding spot near Sector Z. "There they are!" I said, seeing the cargo ship. We flew towards the ships, weapons blazing. It took a bit of getting used to with the Wolfen. It as definitely a pretty awesome fighter ship. Being built around the engine and around the gun, it allowed for better weapons accuracy, and more speed and maneuverability.

The dual twin lasers, superb g-diffusers, and handling made dog fighting exceptionally fun. My main problem was with the weaker shield than the Arwing, and the higher maintenance required for the Wolfen, not to mention the more expensive and more complicated engines and other workings of the Wolfens. Plus the Arwing had better pickup and more flexible maneuverability than the Wolfen. Oh well.

As we advanced on the Cargo ship, it suddenly stopped, and the front opened up. Fighter ships began pouring out of it.

"An ambush! Scramble and take 'em down, draw them into the wreckage and debris fields! Let's show 'em what Star Wolf is made of!" said Wolf. We did just that, splitting up and drawing the Cerinian Royal Guard forces into the debris fields, the mess of Sector Z providing excellent cover, yet a hazardous combat environment.

As we traded laser fire with the royal guard forces, We managed to take out a few guard ships, they fled back to the cargo ship. "This was a sting operation! They knew someone would try to raid the ship!" I said. "Well duuuh!" said Panther, taking out a royal guard fighter that was on my tail. "Wish we'd known it sooner!" grumbled Leon as he took out two royal guard fighters with a bomb.

"Right you are, WOLF!" said Tigress over the comm channel, firing a bomb at Wolf. He pulled away as Tigress had said what she did, narrowly missing being blasted. "Playtime is over, STAR WOLF!" said Kylie. "You guys are space dust!" said Akasha, her Lightning Paw seeming to come out of nowhere. "We'll teach you to take on a Cerinian ship!" said Krystal. "Let's do this!" said Leon. "It'll be a pleasure!" said Panther.

"Akasha, Kylie, Tigress, and Krystal! Long time, no see!" I said, imitating Pigma's voice. "Julius!? What have I told you about that!?" said Wolf, angrily. "JULIUS!? You joined STAR WOLF!? You dick!" said Akaska. "You'll pay for that!" said Kylie. "Don't think we'll go easy on you, given our history!" said Krystal. "We'll kick your butt even harder for this!" said Tigress. "Bring it on!" I said.